The capacity to endure

The masters' thesis has been started and from now on I will be posting interesting facts/extracts from researched material related to Russian character, Russian history etc. My dissertation will be trying to identify the reasons for many occasions of miscommunication between western and Russian businesses and trying to find ways for its resolutions. i believe that much of Russian character is shaped by its intense and unique, extremely violent and unstable history (which is supported by many scholar's observations and studies). I believe that any behaviour, no matter how strange it might seem to us, has an explanation. Therefore I will try and explain the current lack of trust in the west among Russians.

It has been known for centuries about the Russian ability to survive under inhuman conditions, which has been trained for centuries.

An extract from Kets de Vers, M.F.R. The Anarchist Within: Clnical Reflections on Russian Character, Leadership Style, and organizational Practices 98/96/ENT describes it perfectly.

The Capacity to endure

In spite of (or perhaps because of) the harsh circumstances under which the Russians have lived – predominantly on vast, empty plains or on the Siberian taiga-Russians also come across as a people of enormous endurance and stamina. Their history is illustrative. The creation of their nation, a process marked by hardship, was preceded by centuries of social unrest. People in what is now Russia had to deal with Viking raiders from the north, the Tatar-Mongol domination, the Teutonic invasion, the Don Cossacks, and the Turks. Indeed, unrest has been Russia’s constant companion. Not surprisingly, then, the “Times of Troubles” (1598-1613) – a period of social and political upheaval during and after the reign of Boris Godunov, a period of great suffering caused by famine, epidemics, and incursions by Cossack soldiers and Polish adventures – continues to resonate with the Russian collective memory. Nor has Napoleon’s invasion or Hitler’s military campaign been forgotten. But the Russians, with their indomitable stamina, have risen above the many evil forces around them- the irrational authority, the violent changes of regime, the civil wars, the social disorder, the foreign intervention.

This ability to endure, this capacity for survival, has prompted some observers to offer ice fishing – an activity pursued by many Russians – as a metaphor of their character, of the hardiness and mysticism of the Russian soul. Standing for hours in front of a hole on a frozen lake in Siberia under arctic conditions in the hope of catching a fish is an unattractive proposition to most people. It looks like an open invitation for frostbite or even death. But in spite of its predictable discomforts, a large number of Russians find pleasure in this pursuit. Their pleasure could be seen as an expression of the love of suffering – even the assertion of a death wish; at the very least it could be seen as passive consent to a miserable situation. Yet it also illustrates the desire for solitude and the need for mystical unity with nature – traits that exemplify the deep spiritual character of the Russians.